The object of the present invention is a cartridge packing for automatic or semiautomatic firearms comprising at least one container element filled with a given number of cartridges, and at least one closure element for said container element.
In the best-known cartridge packings today, the container element consists of a simple box and the closure element is formed of a cover which can be swung by folding or is removable by pulling out.
The cartridges are arranged in the box either loosely or in a holding element such as, for instance, a honeycomb frame.
Upon the operation of loading his firearm, the marksman manually transfers a desired number of cartridges from the boxes into the loader of the firearm before introducing the loader into it.
This transfer operation in not without drawbacks.
Equipping a loader with cartridges in fact requires careful and laborious manipulations, particularly in the case of a large capacity loader, without taking into account the fact that in the case of the latter the operation can become rather lengthy.
Upon the introduction of each cartridge into the loader, it is necessary to overcome the resistance of a spring which is contained in the loader and is applied against a piston which receives the first cartridge introduced, this while sliding the cartridge to be introduced beneath the two bent edges of the open end of the body of the loader which form retention lips for the cartridges introduced. The use of both hands is indispensable for this operation, since it is necessary to hold the loader firmly at the same time.
Due to this, the operation of filling a loader is difficult and it may happen that it escapes the hands of the marksman, particularly when the resistance of the spring is great.
In the event of this clumsiness, and depending on where and on what the loader falls, slight deformations which are not readily apparent may be produced which escape the notice of the marksman but result in consequences of greater or lesser seriousness.
Thus, for instance, the region of the first cartridge, and particularly the retaining lips of the loader which also have the function, during the firing and by their orientation, of suitably presenting each cartridge in front of the guide ramp leading to the firing chamber of the firearm, may suffer deformations which may cause the jamming of the chamber.
These difficulties in the filling of a loader and this risk of jamming of the firearm, although acceptable on training, may become critical in a combat situation.
In an attempt to improve this state of affairs, partial solutions have been proposed and placed in effect.
Thus, for example, with respect to the filling of a loader of known type, the loader is provided on a side wall with a sliding push button which is connected to the piston in order to compress the spring by the thumb of the hand which holds the loader, while a cartridge which is held between the thumb and the index finger of the other hand is slipped below the lips and introduced into the loader. This system, however, requires brief relaxation of the piston of the loader after each insertion of a cartridge in order for the cartridges to be correctly positioned; furthermore, upon this subsidiary operation, one must avoid pulling too strongly on the piston and then relaxing it suddenly, since in this way one risks damaging the lips of the loader and inevitably causing defects in the feed.
Furthermore, with regard to the filling operation, in the case of another loader of known type a storing tool has been created in the form of a slide member which can be applied to the wall of the loader and is provided with a push member which comes against the piston or a cartridge which has already been introduced can be lowered by pressing this tool against the action of the spring, and the cartridge to be stored, held between the thumb and the index finger of the other hand, can thus be slid below the lips and easily introduced into the loader.
In addition to the drawbacks already mentioned relative to the push button, this storage tool, however, does not eliminate all risk of a false maneuver, and it can be forgotten or lost due to its nature as a separate, additional tool and furthermore, it does not dispense one from the necessity of introducing the cartridges one by one into the loader.
In order to avoid this need of filling the cartridges one by one, a removable magazine which is independent of the magazine of the loader has been created in order to be able to fill the latter with all its cartridges by a single push of one hand while the other hand holds the loader. There is concerned here a removable magazine or "clip" which is particularly suitable for a loader which is wider than it and in which the cartridges are stored not one on top of the other in the same plane as in this clip but, on the contrary, staggered, by lateral offset of one with respect to the other, which permits the clip to be introduced between the lips of this loader. This clip has a lateral opening which allows all of the cartridges to be seen and makes it possible to push them manually so as to transfer them into the loader. The operation is very fast and this clip is then withdrawn and discarded, or else kept in order to be reloaded and reused subsequently.
The advantage produced by this clip is, however, limited in its application to said type of loader alone. It furthermore does not eliminate all risks of improper transfer, resulting in the falling of the loader, since it is necessary to present the clip correctly and align it well with respect to the loader at the start of the transfer operation, avoiding any skewing.
Finally, between the time of its filling and the time of its use, a loaded loader has no protection against the possible action of outside contaminating agents such as dust, sand and water.